Nomos Glashütte Tangente Automatik with in-house calibre DUW 3001 @ Baselworld 2015

Nomos strikes again and presents a 100 % in-house developed and manufactured automatic calibre with in-house manufactured escapement. The new Nomos Glashütte Tangente Automatik will sell for only 2600 Euro…

Nomos calibre DUW 3001 is the name of the new, particularly flat movement that ensures excellent accuracy—and a particularly slender, well-proportioned timepiece on the wrist. For at 6.9 millimeters tall, Tangente Automatik is only a tick wider than the hand-wound version; or 0.3 millimeters to be exact.

Uwe Ahrendt, Nomos CEO and co-owner just told me: “It is the combination of advantages that is so groundbreaking—since until now, there have been no automatic watches that are just as flat, highly accurate, and affordable. The design engineers created the slender work of watchmaking wonder with two tricks: Firstly, almost all the caliber parts were inserted between the base plate and the three-quarter plate, avoiding adding any further parts on top of the movement. Secondly, the production tolerances for parts were reduced by up to 50 percent so that excellent accuracy could be maintained despite the slenderness of the movement.”

How did Nomos Glashütte achieve this breakthrough?

Not without a few tricks. Less space means, of course, less space for tolerances.

“In DUW 3001, we reduced the usual production tolerances by up to 50 percent,” says Theodor Prenzel, the design engineer behind the movement. “Our new movement is produced with such high precision that it can be both—extremely flat and accurate.” Nearly all the parts in DUW 3001 are placed between the base plate and the three-quarter plate. “Our construction space was on average only a millimeter high,” according to Prenzel.

The ratchet wheel, for example, is now placed entirely under the three-quarter plate—and so needed to be made flatter than before. To avoid friction between the wafer-thin parts, a special new material was used; it has excellent, low friction properties, is extremely even, and is easy to form and harden. A further challenge of this miniature work of watchmaking wonder: A flatter mainspring is required for a flatter movement. As it is thinner, it has correspondently less power, which had to be compensated for.

Past years of research into the gear train have helped Nomos Glashütte to gather enough experience to optimize the gear train—the series of cog wheels and pinions that transfer the energy through a movement—for this exact caliber. “This is where our research came into play, since standard parts wouldn’t have worked,” according to Prenzel.

The Nomos design engineers could adjust the order, angle and number of the teeth in this caliber and so increase the effectiveness of the movement by 10 up to 94 percent. “Since 100 percent is impossible, as some friction will al- ways remain in a watch movement, this achievement is simply enormous,” says CEO Uwe Ahrendt of the latest laboratory reports.

The two Nomos Glashütte Tangente models and the Nomos Glashütte Minimatik

The new Nomos Glashütte calibre DUW in the Nomos Glashütte Minimatik. It will sell for 2800 Euro including taxes.

The result is that DUW 3001 is a chronometer-standard, high-quality, and very elegant inhouse caliber—unique in the watch industry and, thanks to new machines and technolo- gies, also ready for large-scale series production. Of course, just like before, the motor also contains a great deal of craftsmanship, the Nomos swing system still sets the pace, and the renowned Glashütte characteristics feature: the three-quarter plate, Glashütte ribbing, tempered blue screws, to mention only a few. The new caliber therefore combines the best watchmaking craftsmanship and high-tech, and stands for both tradition and innovation—just like the research and development department at Nomos Glashütte where it was created. This is where the first automatic caliber from the watchmaking company was developed; the patented date mechanism and the power reserve indicator—also patented—were designed; as well as the intricate movements for the gold watches Lux and Lambda. The Nomos swing system, which caused a storm at Baselworld 2014, also originated from this department.